Warning: Undefined variable $show_stats in /home/jdqespth/public_html/wp-content/plugins/stats/stats.php on line 1384

Food Planning

food I have
Meat
lamb roast leftovers
beef leftovers (just a small amount)
beef roast leftovers (sliced thin)
rabbit puppy

Vegetables
salad greens (new ones)
asparagus
celery
potatoes

Fruits
3 bananas
2 apples

possible meals
Salad
– with steak (with the small beef leftovers) and grilled onions (and peppers?) and cheese (buy blue cheese?)

Pasta and Asparagus as suggested in comments on a previous entry
– buy blue cheese!
– spinach? maybe
– with fried pieces of puppy rabbit?

Lamb curry
– maybe a couple potatoes

Hash
– sliced beef leftovers
– black pepper stir fry sauce I picked up
– potatoes cut like for au gratin
– onions, peppers, fresh herbs

Lamb and Zucchini over pasta

Other possible recipes for puppy

Now to schedule those.

Spring Gardening

Note: this was a poll

Poll #722460 Oops

Have you ever needed to do some gardening where you knew there was poison ivy?

yes
6 (50.0%)

no
6 (50.0%)

Have you ever just gone ahead and done the gardening anyway?

yes
5 (45.5%)

no
6 (54.5%)

Have you ever subsequently gotten poison ivy (despite reasonable precautions)?

yes
2 (18.2%)

no
9 (81.8%)

Was it on your hands (even though you couldn’t so much see any bumps or feel it itching)?

yes
2 (18.2%)

no
9 (81.8%)

Did you then end up with poison ivy anywhere… a bit delicate?

yes
1 (9.1%)

no
10 (90.9%)

Why this line of questioning?

BWWAAhahaahhaaaa! Heeeee! Oooh… *wipes tears from eyes*
8 (66.7%)

These are perfectly reasonable questions about spring gardening
2 (16.7%)

What? I’m lost. Poison Ivy was in the DC Universe, right?
0 (0.0%)

I can’t believe you did that.
7 (58.3%)

I feel your pain,
3 (25.0%)

Questioning? I’m just here for the ticky box.
2 (16.7%)

Ticky box!
5 (41.7%)

ETA: And how come all you people are perfectly willing to say you feel my pain, when you are also saying, “Oh, no, that never happened to me.” TTttthhhhbbbbttttt!!

vegetarian food help?

Last March, the apartment of one of my coworkers burned down, and she is still looking for a place. Since a couple apartments near me are opening up, and she looked really tired last night, I invited her over tonight – and even offered to feed her… because that’s what you do with guests, especially tired ones.

Only I forgot about it.

And now I am looking in my fridge and realising that I have been in the eating down stage of food buying and have gotten down to one bag of spinach of dubious virtue.

Did I mention that this woman is vegetarian and dieting? Did I also mention that she is a very good cook in her own right? And she is from india, so I probably don’t want to try making my amateur versions of indian food… which takes out most of my best vegetarian dishes.

I do have a grocery on the way home and the produce truck, but I need a plan.

Asian food? I can cook the spinach up and have rice – and season them with a sauce or spice that’d be appropriate. Or I could try to buy eggplant and tofu on the way home – I make a great eggplant and tofu stir fry… but that would mean stopping three different places: produce truck for the eggplant, grocery for peanut butter, and asian grocery for tofu.

Italian food? I could whip together pasta and spinach and olive oil with parmesan. … which would be great with sausage or bacon, but those are out. But I think it’s a low carb diet… maybe. I could stop by the produce truck for eggplant and squash and grill them to make sandwiches… but that takes time, and I’m likely to get distracted and burn them because my oven is tetchy.

American food? Well, I could see if the spinach is up to turning into a salad, but she usually has salads for lunch. I’d want to buy a blue cheese on the way home to crumble in.

So do any of you have any better ideas?

ETA: Suggestions in comments included – Pasta Primavera, an egg white frittata with spinach, lentil soup, chilled cucumber soup, hummus, peanut soup, and this recipe:

Here’s an adapted recipe, quick and tasty, good for two people (or more), great for vegetarians – the walnuts have protein, so it’s fairly complete, and the pasta gives it good heft. You can obviously leave the apple out, but it’s a fun, springy addition.

1/2 tablespoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 pound cavatappi, fusili, rotini, penne, or other small-sized pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound asparagus , bottom 1 inch trimmed and discarded, spears halved lengthwise if larger than 1/2 inch in diameter and cut into 1-inch lengths
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup walnuts , chopped
2 cups spinach (lightly packed), washed and dried thoroughly
3 ounces blue cheese , preferably Roquefort, crumbled
1 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 Granny Smith apple , peeled, for grating over pasta

1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in stockpot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta, stir to separate, and cook until al dente. Drain and return to pot.

2. While pasta is cooking, heat 1 tablespoons oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until beginning to smoke. Add asparagus, pepper, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook, without stirring, until asparagus begins to brown, about 1 minute. Add walnuts and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until asparagus is tender-crisp and nuts are toasted, about 4 minutes; toss in spinach until wilted. Add asparagus mixture, cheese, vinegar, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pasta in stockpot; toss to combine. Serve immediately, grating apple over individual servings.

Test your smoke alarms

It’s a good idea to test your smoke alarm. In fact, my lease stipulates that I should check it every month. But since I was never quite sure what kind it was, whether it would notify the fire department, or whether it would go off quickly – and because whenever my neighbor’s cooking sets it off, it stays on forever until the fire company comes and fixes it somehow. So I have been understandably nervous about testing it and disturbing my neighbors.

So this morning I was toasting up some pecans to pack with a salad…

Consider my fire alarm to be in full working order.

No apartments were harmed in the creation of this public service announcement.

Planning the week

Food I have
meat
leftover beef roast
leftover pork roast

vegetables
zucchini
spinach
salad greens
jalapeno peppers
carrots
chinese cabbage

Meal Planning
Monday, April 24 – 7:30 movie screening
something quick and easy – salad: with blue cheese, toasted pecans, purple onion, and a red wine and balsamic vinaigrette

Tuesday, April 25
beef, zucchini, spinach, onions, peppers – with mexican beans and rice

Wednesday, April 26
pork, chinese cabbage, carrots, peppers – stir fried with flat noodles

Thursday, April 27
Dining Out for Life?
going early to New York?